Del Rey turned in a pair of shaky songs on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ much to the delight of her detractors.
By James Montgomery

Lana Del Rey performs “Video Games” on “SNL” on Saturday

Photo: NBC

Last week, Lana Del Rey fired back at critics who said she wasn’t ready for her “Saturday Night Live” gig, telling MTV News, “I’m a good musician … I have been singing for a long time, and I think that ['SNL' creator] Lorne [Michaels] knows that … it’s not a fluke decision.”

Of course, following the show — and a pair of vocally shaky performances in which Del Rey seemed nervous and detached — those same critics fired back en masse, first taking to Twitter to rip her as nothing more than hype. Actress and musician Juliette Lewis was particularly harsh, writing (in a since-deleted tweet), “Wow, watching this ‘singer’ on SNL is like watching a 12-year-old in their bedroom when they’re pretending to sing and perform #signofourtimes.”

Actress Eliza Dushku also chimed in, tweeting, “Who is this wack-a-doodle chick performing on ‘SNL’? Whaaa?”

Also jumping into the fray — albeit not intentionally — was “NBC Nightly News” anchor/ amateur music aficionado Brian Williams, who, in an email meant for Gawker Media founder Nick Denton (which was subsequently posted on Gawker.com), called Del Rey’s performance “one of the worst outings in ‘SNL’ history,” and chided Denton’s websites for not slagging it appropriately.

(A spokesperson for NBC told Gawker that the email “was sent in confidence … and absolutely never intended to be public.”)

To be fair, Del Rey did have her defenders, most notably the host of her “SNL” show, Daniel Radcliffe. Speaking to the media at the annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, the actor said that the attacks went far beyond mere criticism of Del Rey’s singing and stage presence, and added that he felt the entire thing was blown out of proportion.

“It was unfortunate that people seemed to turn on her so quickly,” Radcliffe said. “I also think people are making it about things other than the performance … if you read what people are saying about her online, it’s all about her past and her family and stuff that’s nobody else’s business. I don’t think [the performance] warranted anywhere near that reaction.”

Del Rey has yet to answer any of her “SNL” critics (unless this tweet counts), and a spokesperson for her label, Interscope, did not respond to MTV News’ request for comment on the matter.

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